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INTERIORS 
BEAUTI F U L 

and the 

Decoration of the Home 



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SIXTH 


REVISED EDITION 




Published by 


M. 


"L. KEITH 


MINNEAPOLIS 



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Copyright by <3 

M. L. Keith . N^ i> 



Minneapolis, :: Minn. \ i ^ 



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PRICE TWO DOLLARS 

0)C!,A659671 



Introductory Note 



A LL the world loves a lover," they say — and by the same token, all the world 

■^*- loves a home-builder, for home-making is the natural sequence of love- 
making. Everybody is interested, observant and sympathetic. All the world and 
his wife, strolls by the new house to see what may be new in the building; world, 
taking in with kindly curiosity its cheery chimney pots, (alas! electrical concerns 
tell us the chimney-less house is coming) the choice of the roof, and its graceful 
lines, its pergolas and sun-parlors, even the "drapes" of the front windows. 

It must be acknowledged, however, that houses, like men, are of all sorts and 
conditions that make many of them, like the old Quaker, "queer." Not all 
will bear the friendliest inspection. And sometimes when we have safely crossed 
the Rubicon of the exterior, we enter upon an inland sea of wild perplexities, 
swept by changing currents of "advice," and veering winds of uncertainties. It 
is then we hail with joy a pilot, putting off to help us into our haven, with his 
compass of experience and charts of knowledge. Such a pilot we hope you will 
find, in this, our book INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL. 

And when at last, the goal is reached, and the "new house" rises warm and 
golden to our eyes, and its west windows perchance, receive "the incomparable 
pomp of eve," and stairways ascend in graceful lines and lights rise and lights fall 
soft and blended and there is the cheer of a crackling fire and books crowding all 
the spaces, when there is the sheen of rugs and the gleam of polished brass — when 
there are brown-toned etchings on the walls and blue Canton china behind the 
glass doors of cupboards; when the French doors half reveal, half conceal the 
charming vistas of the garden — then indeed do we feel well repaid for the pain- 
staking thought, study and effort which the "magic witchery" has cost. For to 
achieve such a house of the heart, you must study and plan. You not only want a 
house that will shelter you from the sun and the rain and protect from too inquis- 
itive and close neighbors, but a house that will be a joy to look upon, a delight to 
the eye. I , ,|: 

Beware of "Jazz," in housebuilding. 

Avoid the mistake of copying some unusual feature you may have seen, if it does 
not fit in with your own plans and possessions. Try to see your house as a whole, 
from the start, so that there will be harmony not only between the walls and the 
roof, but harmony of walls and ceilings, of floors and furniture and above all 
fitness to life to be lived within them. 

Rooms, belongings, furniture and decorations should always be in harmony 
with each other and with the life that is to be lived with them. Louis Seize furnish- 
ings and decorations in a little house where the life is entirely different from every- 
thing that went with that type, would be entirely wrong. A thing beautiful in 
itself, is not beautiful if out of place. To combine and arrange, so that the "coup 
d' aeil" shall be interesting and charming, there must be a proper relating of the 
house, its furniture, and the people who live in it. Another thing, it must express 
the modern life of today, even though making use of the lovely ideas of the past. 
Suitability and Simplicity are the watchwords for the home decorator and it is 
in that spirit that the assistance of a practical guide such as INTERIORS 
BEAUTIFUL— is offered. 



Contents 



Pages 
Halls and Stairways (Illustrations) 5 - 24 

The Hall 7 - 9 

Living Rooms (Illustrations) 25 - 34 

The Walls of a Room 35 . 44 

Pictures for the Home 37 - 39 

Decorative Possibilities of Casts 45 - 46 

Rugs for the House 47 - 49 

Braitletl Rugs and Antique Furniture 50 - 51 

Dining Rooms {Illustrations) 52 - 78 

Distinction in Table China 57 - 58 

Breakfast Rooms 79 - 81 

Glass Doors ( Illustrations ) 82 - 85 

The Up-To-Date Bedroom 86-101 

The Child's Room 102-105 

Concerning Curtains 106 - 108 

A Little Talk on Mantles 109-110 

Fireplaces [Illustrations ) Ill- 126 

Inscriptions 12 i - 128 

Books and the Fireplace 129 - 130 

The Spotless Rooms of the House 131 - 134 

Kitchens ( Illustrations ) 135 - 138 

The Enclosed Porch 139-142 

Porch Furniture 143 - 150 

Outdoor Living Rooms (Illustrations) 151 - 153 

Porch Flowers 154-154 

Outdoor Living Rooms • 155 - 160 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Halls and Stairways 




Entrance Hall from Library in a .\eii ) <irk llniisi' hicd.-rick J. Stemer.^Archit 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Picturesque Treatment in Shades of Warm Grays, Soft Green and Fawn of Paneled Spaces in a Hall 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



The Hall 



Perhaps no feature of the house is of 
more importance than the hall. It is 
there, the first impressions of the dwel- 
ling- and its inmates are received. It 
should have an atmosphere of dignity, 
yet friendliness. It should invite, not 
repel. It should be generous, and not 
mean or niggardly. A small, narrow, 
cramped hall in a house of any preten- 
sion, at once stamps the character of the 
owner. 

Nothing lends such dignity and charm 
to the hall as the staircase, when well 
designed. And perhaps among all the 
types none is so attractive as the Colonial, 
either curving in graceful lines, or in a 
straight flight to the floor above. The 
combination of white spindles and dark 
mahogany is quite irresistable. 
Many forms of tliis favorite type 
are hercAvith illustrated. 

The hall is the place for hand- 
some furniture and rich rugs, but 
the pieces should be few and dis- 
tinguished. Entering a beautiful 
hall recently the eye rested on a 
console of foreign workmanship in 
painted wood, a French gray witli 
painted panels done in rose and 
lavender. The mirror above, 
matched the table, and on the table 
stood a bowl of Nippon ware in 
coral pink, filled with dull pink 
crysanthemums. There was one 
tall Gothic chair, upholstered in old 
tapestry. The woodwork of the 
hall was old ivory, and the deep 
pile of the taupe gray rug was con- 
tinued in a runner up the stair. 

One of the most attractive fea- 
tures of a house is the spacious, 
w^ell-lighted hall, which embodies 
in its construction the highest 
development of the Colonial hall. 
It extends through the centre of 
the house, from the statelv en- 
trance door to the dining-room. 
The living-room opens into it on 
the south side and the library on 
the north, back of which a skeleton 
arch frames the carriage entrance 



and stairway leading to the second floor. 
The steps and balusters are painted white, 
the treads and cap rail are of mahogany. 
The low landing is lighted by a group of 
three windows, through which can be had 
an inviting glimpse of the cool, green 
woods. 

The decorative treatment of the hall 
should conform to the rest of the house. 
It must be comparatively quiet in color 
scheme so as to provide a good back- 
ground. The hall is frankly an entrance, 
but should be neither dark nor unattrac- 
tive. It contains only what is absolutely 
essential in the way of furniture and furn- 
ishings. If small it may be papered in 
the same way as the living room. If of 
fair size, it mav take an exceedinolv dec- 




In a Colonial Hall 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



orative treatment which in itself makes 
pictures unnecessary. 

AN'ithin, one's imagination is also in- 
trigued by wooded glens, the walls of the 
hall al)ove the white-paneled wainscot 
being covered in landscape paper of forest 
design. Copied with faithful exactness 
from an old model, this paper is done in 
gray and makes an exquisite blend with 
the mulberry hangings. 

Another equally hospita1:)le hall is one 
in which the console has a mirror which 
reaches to the floor. Xear this historic 
piece is a davenport of the old Empire 
style which opens its comfortable looking 
arms in \\hich vou mav spend the waiting 
moments. This hall also finely illustrates 
the use of the landscape papers so com- 
mon in Colonial halls. 

The far corners of the hall are alluring 
in their treatment. In one is a mahogany 
console, gracefull}' silhouetted against 
the white wainscot, with a convex, gold- 
framed mirror, embellished by a spread 
eagle, hung over the top. This is., a 





Reminiscent of the Ancient "High Boy'' 



Another Hospitable Hall 

genuine girandole, made bv Chippen- 
dale about 1800. 

If a happy result is to be obtained in a 
hall, the furniture there must be adapted 
to its character and the rest of the house. 
In a cottage-style house, carved furniture 
and elaborate textiles are out of place. 
The informal hall is more homelike in 
its character and partakes more of the 
nature of a room. 

In the case of Colonial interiors, where 
the spacious, lower hall is repeated on 
the floor above, an inviting nook may be 
arranged in a broad window with writing 
table, plants, books and an easy chair. 

Here may be placed the family heir- 
looms — the antique chest, the highboy, 
the Windsor chair. 

On the floor of a small vestibule, cut 
in gray-green tiling, were the words: 
■'Edith and Allan Haines — their house." 
Here was something out of the ordinary 
at the outset, something that expressed 
personality and that unusual character- 
istic in American home l)uilding — perma- 
nency. For who could pull up stakes on 
a May moving day with that adorable old 
sampler-legend staring in one's face. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Often the chief work of art and crafts- 
manship in Colonial halls was to be 
found in the intricate carving of the 
newel, formed of two or more spirals 
carved as interweaving. The simplest 
form of the newel was the central core 
with spindles set in a circle around them. 
AVhenever one sees this varied design 
in the spindles one may be fairly satisfied 
that it is original Colonial work — not 
modern copies ; for most modern work 
adheres to one type of design for the 
spindles, and rightly so for the efi:'ect is 
quite as satisfactory. 

The most simply turned spindles often 
give an extremely satisfactory staircase 
as may l)e noted in the halls shown in 
photograph. The mahogany rail and ma- 





Coiirtcsy Potticr & Stymiis 

Chdir of Late Gothic Feeling 

hogany tread of the step was used almost 
exclusively in the Colonial hall. High- 
backed. Italian chairs of the 17th century 
patterns fit well into this l)ackground. 
giving a certain dignity which the Louis 
XVI furniture alone would not reproduce. 
This influence is further strengthened by 
a long table of the earlier period. A beau- 
tiful old chair upholstered in Gothic tapes- 
try in 1)lues and greens strikes a substan- 
tial note. It takes a rare feeling for line, 
color, and harmony to furnish a room 
with examples of several periods and 
have the result one of charm and repose. 



Seventeenth Century Leather Chair 



10 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




The White Enamel Finish is Offset by Rugs in Deep Warm Tones 




A Stairway True to Colonial Type 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



II 




A Well Placed Decorative Panel Gives a Distinctive Accent in a Hall 
The Italian Console table beneath, gives a note of distinction 



12 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Hall of Dignity and Charm 



IN TERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



13 




Fine Colonial Treatment for a Narrow City Hall 



14 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Howard Major, Architect 
The Hall of the Hester House Shows a Delightful L se of Scenic Paper 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



15 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




The Straight Formal Staircase Continues to Hold Its Own 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Fine Grandfather's Clock Gives an Air of Dignity 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




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INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



19 




Built-in Book Cases Extend Under the W indoiv Ledge in Living Hall 




W here Doors Folding Like a Screen Lead from Hall to Dining Room 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




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INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



21 




Simple but Excellent Architectural Treatment of Stainvay 




All Done in W kite, uith Muslin Curtains and the Simplest of Rugs 



22 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Oak Paneling in an old English Inn 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



23 




A Spacious Suiir Hall in a Country Home 




'Diana of the W liite Horse" by Arthur Crisp. Interesting Tapestry Hanging for Hall 



24 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




The Horse Hair Furniture of Olden Days Shoiv Good Lines 




Consistent Colonial Treatment and Furnishings Are Always Popular 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Living Rooms 



25 




A Charming Living Room, With its Wicker Furnishings 




Glass Doors Give Seclusion, and ) i-i tliv Effeit oj Space 



26 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




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INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



27 




A Charming Sun-flooded Living Room 




Sconces and Electric Candles Are Used for the Lighting Fixtures in This Room Which is 
Furnished With Old Mahogany Antiques 



28 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




The Fireplace, of Rough Texture Brick, Is Wide Enough to Take Cordwood Sticks 




White Enamel Furniture Mixed With Whicker Pieces is Popular for Country Homes 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



29 




A Foriruil Treatment Well Suited to Large Assembly or Club Rooms. 




A Charming Craftsman Interior Showing Clinker Brick Fireplace with Lintel of Fireproof 

Wood 



30 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Showing Placement of Davenport and Library Table 




Brown Oak Woodwork; Allegorical Frieze Representing Music and the Arts Done in Oils, 

Paneled in Oak. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



31 




The Large Landscape Picture, Let into the Wall and Framed by Panels of the Wood Trim, 

is the Focal Point of Interest 




The Cast Over the Fireplace is an Ornamental Feature to This Living Room 



32 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Standard Lamps Predominate in the Lighting of This Comfortable Looking R( 



Arii fa i>t<t't'»it 




A Sextet of French Windows Open upon the Sun Room 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



33 




H icker Furniture Generally Harmonizes iiitli anr Surroundiui 




Beside the Fireplace is an Excellent Place for Built-in Book Cases 



34 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Living Room in Illinois, Finislied in Pine, Stained a Soft Brown 




Wide Fireplace, Faced with Moravian Tile in Dull Reds; Hearth the Same, Raised Six Inches 
From Floor. Tall Glass Doors with Arched Tops Open Out on Balcony. Antique 

Tapestry on Walls. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



The Walls of a Room 




1 liich I 
Horiz 



H E problem 
o f decorat- 
ing the walls 
o f a room, 
whether with hang- 
ings, wall paper, or 
paint, is one that 
calls for something 
more than taste. 
There are certain 
scientific principles 
that must be reck- 
oned with, if you 
would have your 
room satisfactory. 

First of all, you 
should consider the 
exposure of the 
room, — whether it is 
north, east, south or 
west, — the height and size of the room, 
and the amount of light that comes into 
it. You can entirely change the apparent 
size and shape of a room by means of 
what you put upon its wall surfaces. 
Consequently, although you may have 
your personal preferences in the matter 
of color, — whether light or dark, warm or 
cold, dull or bright is best for that par- 
ticular room, must be decided with refer- 
ence to these conditions. 

If the light comes in from the north, 
the room will have no sunlight, and con- 
sequently a red, yellow, or yellow-green 
wall covering is good. A cold blue paper 
on such a room would be cheerless, 
especially in winter. On the other hand, 
houses used only in summer are best 
papered with blue and gray-green, since 
cool efifects are exactly what you want 
at that season. Rooms with windows that 
face the south or west, in which the sun- 




hiiin:' liooiii. Slionifisx the Influence of 

ontal Lines and Figured Hangings 
light is plentiful, should be less warm in 
color ; blues or cool greens may be used 
there, while it would be undesirable to 
have these colors on the north. 

By cold colors is meant blues and 
grays ; by warm colors, red and yellow, 
or colors in which they predominate. 
Green, for instance, can be made by mix- 
ing blue and yellow. If the blue pre- 
dominates, you have blue-green, a cold 
color ; if the yellow predominates, you 
have yellow-green, a warm color. 

But it is not enough that the color be 
warm or cool. You will have to deter- 
mine whether it is to be light or dark, 
and that is another problem. Few per- 
sons realize how much reflected light has 
to do with the apparent size of the room, 
although one may have noticed how 
much smaller a room appears when cov- 
ered with a wall paper than it does when 
it is only plastered. Color absorbs light, 



36 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



and the darker the color, the smaller the 
room appears. If yovi want a room to 
look large, use light paper ; you want it 
to look small, use dark paper. Moreover 
the color of the paper also affects the 
quantity of light, for the more light the 
colors absorb the less they reflect. Blue 
absorbs comparatively little light ; yel- 
low more than blue, and red a good deal. 
Green, since it is a mixture of blue and 
yellow, comes halfway between them in 
respect to absorbing light. 

If you take two rooms the same size, 
and equally well lighted, put dark red pa- 
per on one and light blue or cream-col- 
ored paper on the other, the second room 
will seem very much larger than the first. 
Moreover, the first will require twice as 
much light as the blue or cream-colored 
room. So there is a practical as well as 
an aesthetic side to the problem. 

The nature of the design in the wall 
paper also affects the apparent size of 









Vertical Stripes in the Wall Paper Give the Effect of 
Height 



the room. A wall paper with vertical 
lines or stripes always gives the room a 
look of extra height. Horizontal lines, 
on the other hand, give the room greater 
apparent length. It is therefore not a 
question of fashion whether you should 
use striped paper, but a question of the 
shape and size of the room. 

Mouldings, friezes, and chair rails — all 
tend to make the walls appear low. If 
the ceiling is already too low, obviously 
the thing to do is to take off all the 
mouldings, and run striped paper from 
baseboard to ceiling. Panels built over 
the door frames and reaching to the ceil- 
ing add greatly to the general effect of 
height. On the other hand, if the ceil- 
ing appears too high, put a deep frieze, 
a chair rail, or wainscoting, and horizon- 
tal mouldings wherever it is feasible. 

One method of treating a wall sur- 
face where the ceiling appears too high 
is to have an ample wainscoting. Five or 
six feet above it run a moulding entirely 
around the room. The space between 
the wainscoting and this moulding should 
be kept very plain, covered either with 
wall paper or with cloth, and used as a 
panel for pictures. 

The advantage of the plan is that be- 
sides giving the horizontal lines neces- 
sary to lower the ceiling, it gives a space 
for the pictures, which brings them all 
"on the line," that is, within easy distance 
of the eyes. Pictures should never be 
"skyed," that is, hung so high that it is 
an eft"ort to look at them. 

It is hard to exceed the charm of the 
soft greys, Ijuffs, creams and whites of 
the Colonial period. AMth these back- 
L;rounds, great liberty is enjoyed, in the 
ciAor of the hangings, coverings and ac- 
cessories. A noted New York decorator 
1 - famous for her fascinating effects pro- 
duced with chintz furnishings and hang- 
ings against a background of white walls. 
The rich colors of the chintz against the 
white walls are striking- and artistic. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



37 








Pictures for the Home 




N decorative matters we are 
prone to extremes. The reaction 
from too many pictures has given 
us rooms often lacking in the par- 
ticular charm which a few well chosen 
pictures always provide. Better none 
than poor pictures badly hung, and surely 
better none than the old time crowded 
walls. But moderation in all things is 
well — also that discrimination which pre- 
vents bareness on one hand and clutter on 
the other. 

Great strides have been made in meth- 
ods of reproducing and wonderful im- 
provement in framing. Picture and frame 
are made a part of the back-ground thus 
becoming a unit in the decorative scheme. 

In the reproductions many beautiful 
things may be secured, and as these are 
large in treatment they offer many sug- 
gestions. Simple frames are best for 
these subjects. Repeating the darkest 
tone of the picture in plain band of wood 
is a good plan and one which seldom 
ofifends. 



Portrait details from famous old pic- 
tures present a varied field. The inter- 
esting head and shoulders of Lucrezia 
Tornabuoni is a case in point, a fragment 
of the large fresco of the "Birth of the 
Virgin" in the church of Santa Maria 
Novella, Florence. This interesting por- 
trait ranks in decorative and pictorial 
value with Leonardo's Beatrice D'Este. 
All these things may be purchased in 
photographs, Braun of Paris and Alinari 
of Florence being famous in this line. 
Others and less expensive processes are 
on the market, carried by most art shops. 

In color the works of Charles Bird is 
well known and of highest excellence. 
Each print is signed by Mr. Bird to the 
effect that the color is engraved, not add- 
ed later. The Medici Color prints are 
very desirable as are the reproductions in 
color by a Detroit company. 

The Madonna and Child have been a 
favorite theme with artists for centuries 
and while the modern treatment differs 
from the old, the same spirit is expressed. 



38 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Apples and oranges, fish and game, 
overturned basket of peaches, pots and 
pans, no longer ornament ( ?) the walls of 
dining rooms ; if pictures are used in a 
dining room, they are rare and dignified. 
In a newly decorated house, the beautiful 
dining room with ivory woodwork and 
walls hung with a gray brocaded, satin 
finish, tapestry paper, there was on one 
wall a fine copy of Velasquez's — Portrait 
of a Child — and on the opposite wall for- 
eign flower paintings on a black ground — 
wood panels. 

In the dining room of a Colonial-type 
house, with walls paneled in ivory wood, 
there hangs over the white mantel a 
brilliant piece of painting by a Dutch 
artist, a Holland dyke, the surface of the 
water strewn with poppies of every shade 
and color. 

On the opposite wall is placed a large 
Delia Robbia, a wreath of flowers and 
fruit in the brilliant and unique coloring 
so well known. Interest thus centered in 
one or two important, focal points. 

Another room paneled in mahogany of 
a warm, golden brown, the panels formed 
a fine background for a few pictures of 
the Impressionist school. 

They are in greens and blues and soft 
purples ; a marvelous Zorn shows a 
woman in a bluish lavendar gown partly 
concealed by green foliage. The tones of 
the gown are repeated in the shade of a 
tall brass lamp and in a pot of hyacinths 
placed in the window. From every point 
in the room the blues and greens and 
warm purples are reflected ; in the rugs, 





An Interesting Print Which Has the Quality 
of Canvas 



This Fine Dante May be Secured in Color or Black 
and White 



in the upholstery, and over and over in 
the pictures. 

In reproductions of the early Italian 
painters, we find both color and black and 
white — also exquisite browns and grays. 
For libraries and living rooms monotypes 
are fitting and when appropriately fram- 
ed, contribute beauty and dignity. Over 
a mantel the Madonnas of Raphael, Luini, 
Bellini, and Ghirlandajo have a quality 
of the old world charm. 

The beautiful illustration on page 52, 
a reproduction of Sadler's famous paint- 
ing would grace the most dignified dining 
room. 

A colored etching in Raffaelle's early 
manner is very pleasing. The fewness of 
the tints gave a most restful and satisfac- 
tory print. Simplicity and directness are 
features in all color printing and this can- 
not be insisted upon too strenuously. All 
great art is simple. In buying color prints 
beware of the complicated attempts, not 
to say that they will certainly be bad, but 
that the simpler they are the better. 

Landscapes in broad simple masses 
please many people and have a decorative 
value beyond most figure compositions. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



39 




X 



One of F. D. Miller's Story Pictures 




White Paneling in a Room of Blended French and English Charactei A Fine Background 
for the Dignified Portrait over the Mantel 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Combined Living Room and Hall in a Country Home 




Well Balanced Architectural Effect of Arches Flanking Chimney Breast 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



41 




42 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Living Hall with Staircase Niche 



L,nd & Heu-iitt, Architects 




The Built-in Organ is of Oak Like the Trim. The If alls are Done in Old Blue, Rug and 

Furnishings to Match 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



43 




Living Room with Fireplace Centered. A Group of Three Windows with Window Seat Opposite 




The Heavy Craftsman Furniture is Lightened by a Few Good Wicker Pieces 



44 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




fa3 



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INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



45 



The Decorative Possibilities of Cast 




^' T HAS always seemed to me thai 
plaster casts from the decorative 
standpoint are neglected. On the 
other hand, I have frequently 
seen rooms which were marred by too 
many small things in plaster. One big 
cast well placed will contribute a certain 
dignity difficult to obtain in any other 
way. 

The sand finished or rough plastered 
wall makes an admirable setting for a 
cast. Burlap and heavy textiles are also 
good. A fine grade of plain paper is like- 
wise effective. Figured walls, as a rule, 
are not so harmonious, 3'et I recall a room 
papered in a bold design in three shades 
of yellow where several casts made a 
charming- enrichment ; over the fireplace 
being a fine Delia Robbia Madonna. 

For music rooms, the Cantoria has al- 
ways been a favorite, particularly the 
"Boys Singing from a Scroll." In a few 
cases the complete composition in ten 
panels has been used. 

In my illustation of a living room may 
be noted two panels of the Cantoria, one 




iMSp'-». jer»iai«i>s«'9^ m^»& ,1 



Dancing Figures 

seen through the opening of another 
room and one at closer range. 

Casts in bas-relief will have more dec- 
orative value than casts of statues, 
although an occasional place may be 
found for a fine Greek or Roman example. 
Perhaps the "Winged Victory" — the Nike 
of Samothrace — is best known of classic 
statues. It has been reproduced by the 
thousands. Yet never seems common, so 
perfect is it of its kind, with that splendid 
suggestion of movement in the broken 
wings and beautiful drapery. 




Madonna and Child with Angels, by Lucca Delia Robbia 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



47 



Rugs for the House 



The beautiful designs and colors in 
which they may be bought make them 
attractive for country houses, cottages 
and bungalows. If a matting is laid all 
over the floor, touches of color may be 
introduced by adding these rugs, while 
on hardwood or stained floors there is 
nothing more suitable. 

The hooked rug of our grandmothers 
has come into popularity again. Since 
it is one of the most practical pieces of 
"fancy work" a woman can do, it has 
a double reason for being. An interest- 
ing rug made some twenty years ago, is 
shown by photograph. 



Perhaps no question is a more burning- 
one to the home-maker, than the question 
of rugs. To be or not to be — Domestic 
or Oriental. 

Among the domestic rugs there are 
various makes of Wilton, Royal Wilton, 
Velvet, etc., either plain or in conven- 
tionalized or Orientalized design. One 
of the best of these, both for appearance 
and service, is the Rego Wilton, with a 
heavy pile and color tones of unusual 
depth and beauty. It is an excellent 
choice for the hall and living rooms of a 
house and a fine background for any fur- 
niture, with an agreeable feeling of soft- 
ness to the footfall. It 
has of course advanced 
greatly in cost since the 
war, being now from $3.00 
to $6.00 a yard according 
to width and quality, but 
even then it is less expen- 
sive than the seamless 
rugs. 

In a new home, the 
floors throughout the hall, 
living room and dining 
room are overlaid with 
Geneva rugs. Their deep, 
heavy pile and soft sheen, 
taupe in color, with an 
undertone of rose gives 
an indescribable softness. 
These rugs were made to 
order in sizes to suit the 
rooms. In the living room 
are laid several Persian 

Iran rugs in their lovely ^- O''^ ''"'"''"^d in" Rug Aln^osc Equalizing an Onental in Pat,ernan7color 

coloring of rose and blue and cream. The Oriental rugs are broadly classified as 

blue note is still further accentuated by Anatolian or Turkish, Caucasian, Iran 

the deep blue marble facings of the fire- or Persian, and Turcoman. 

Pl^c^- The list of Caucasian rugs includes 




48 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 






, , ^„^y„ ■■#-^f sw- a:'*^ 





Tabriz Rug, Under the Persian Ghiordes Prayer Rug of the Shirvan Rug of the Caucasian 
Division Famous Anatolian or Turkish Division 

Division 



the Kazak, Daghestan, Derabend, Shir- 
van, Karabagh, Ganja, Oabistan, Cash- 
mere or Soumak, and Mosuh 

Of all the Caucasian rugs, the Kazaks 
are heaviest in pile. They are made by 
the Cossacks, a nomadic tribe renowned 
for their horsemanship. Although loose- 



ly woven, they are exceedingly durable. 
They are bold in design and magnificent 
in coloring, splendid fields of green or 
red, throughout which are distributed 
detached figures— geometric, birds, beasts, 
trees, and human beings. The nap comes 
close to the selvasfe of the border. 




One Large Rug Nearly Covers the Floor of this Living Room 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



49 




The Decorative Effect of Plants 

The difference between the Iran and 
Persian rugs is simply that the antique 
Persians are called Iran, after the historic 
name of the country, in order to dis- 
tinguish them from the modern rugs. 
While all Iran rugs are Persian, not all 
Persians are Irans. ]\Iost of the Persian 
rugs are known by the name of the town 
in which they are made; such as, Tabriz, 
Herez, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Kerman 
proper, Sultanabad, Shiraz, Herat, jNIe- 
shed, Saraband, Gorayan, etc. While-some 
of the finest rugs in the markets to-day 
are from Persia there has also been a great 
deterioration in some fabrics formerly re- 
cognized as artistic models and maryels. 
The antique silk rugs, maryels of color, 
exquisite workmanship, and delicacy of 
design are seldom seen outside of priyate 
collections or museums, with prices pro- 
hibitiye to any except millionaires. The 
best Persian rugs obtainable to-day are 
those made in the remote portions of 
eastern, western and southern Persia 




Old Persian Rug in an Artist's Studio 



50 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Braided Rugs and Antique Furniture 



are turning again to 
homely, practical 
things. The braided 
or crocheted rugs 
are eminently prac- 
tical. In the first 
place woven rag 
rugs have found 
favor and have been 
used w^ith great sat- 
isfaction in many 
kinds. 

We are coming 
back to the time of 
home-craft work of 
various kinds, of 
which rug making is 
one of the most 
practicable and pop- 
ular. 




Jf ith Colonial Furniture Braided Rugs Seem Fitting 




The Homelike Charm of an Old House with an Original Use of Braided Rugs 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



51 



The modern bedroom is 
quite often old-fashioned in 
regard to furnishings, for 
the latest style is likely to 
be a revival of former 
styles in bedroom furnish- 
ings with "period furniture," 
if heirlooms are not used. 
But in plan, and in such ar- 
rangements as closets, heat- 
ing and lighting, wholly 
modern ideas prevail. The 
up-to-date builder, therefore, 
considers the styles in fur- 
nishings in order to provide 
a suitable and convenient 
background in the room 
itself. 

In size, the bedroom 
large enough to accommo- 
date Colonial furniture, is 
rarely indulged in nowa- 
days, except in the spacious 
mansion. Not only must 
there be sufficient room, but 
wall spaces must be pro- 
vided for the usual pieces 
of furniture without crowd- 
ing. 





Some f^ieces of Fine Workmanship 











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Two 

prize 

pieces 

in 

ornamental 

furniture 



An Old Colonial Table 



52 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




be 






CC 



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53 




Seventeenth Century Paneling in a City Dining Room 




The Baronial Type 



54 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




CQ 



« 



03 



^ 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



55 




The Dining Room in a Handsome Colonial House, Paneled in H liitewood to the Tops of the Doors 

and Furnished in Mahogany. 




Mahogany Furniture of Colonial Design in a White Enameled Dining Room 



56 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




•2 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 

Distinction in Table China 



57 




New China of Old Design 




ASHIONS in tal)le appointments 
change year by year, but fine 
linen, clear glass, and appropri- 
ate china are never out of style. 
Few housekeepers can resist the attrac- 
tive displays in the shops, even with the 
memory of well stocked shelves at home. 
There seems to be always a place for an 
additional half dozen plates, or doilies, or 
finger bowls, as the case may be. 

In selecting table ware for every day 
use the most pronounced patterns should 
be avoided unless comliined with more 
conservative pieces. A moder- 
ate use of the unconventional 
is recommended, for a continu- 
al display of colorless china is 
monotonous and tiresome. 

My own china cupl:)oard is 
a case in point. Sedji ware of 
pale green has always been a 
favorite in our household. This 
year I selected l^read and but- 
ter plates to match breakfast 
plates and cofi:'ee cups and 
saucers purchased twelve years 
ago. The green is a trifle 
grayer in the new plates and 
there is an advance in price. 

This Sedji is very attractive. 
Cofifee always seems to me to 
have a special flavor served in 
its large comfortable cups, just 
as tea has a particular "bou- 
quet" when drunk from old 
pink lustre. Sedji plates make 
the simplest kind of salad verv 
interestinp' to the eve, while 



almost any flower the garden yields, 
blends delightfully with the cool green. 
Other pieces working in well at lunch- 
eons and informal suppers are bowls and 
plates of Ouimper, the gay French peas- 
ant ware, plates and pitchers of Italian 
majolica, and a half dozen dishes of 
heavy china, such as rice and chop suey 
are served in at Chinese restaurants. 

Breakfast sets may depart from sterotype 
lines and be all the more welcome. Salad 
seems more palatal)le on a different style of 
plate from that used for the main course. 




Dresser of Ddiiersk make, — an Interesting Substitute for 
the Conventional Sideboard 



58 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Stri'ciis jor Dining Room Furnishings 



The laced-leather hinge, used in the em- 
broidered screens with cherry framing, 
was the invention of this man. The idea 
of using grass cloth for porch screens 
emanated from his active brain. For 
many years I used with much satisfac- 
tion a four paneled screen of light brown 
grass-cloth painted in white cherry blos- 
soms. The blossoms were broadly paint- 
ed in the flat Japanese way, but the flexi- 
ble movements of the screen were Ameri- 
can, or possibly Dutch, or perhaps just 
Vantine. Anyway this article was a 
treasured possession for years, and still 
serves in the form of one perfectly good 
panel used as a wall decoration between 
two windows in a country bedroom. 

Japanese screens will be found for 
years to come, but not quite such exam- 
ples as dwelt by the dozens, and even 
hundreds, in the good old pre-war period, 
beneath the roof of the great house of 
Vantine. 

Speaking of screens, the decorative cre- 
tonnes make excellent ones for country 
use, and in a neutral room are as suc- 
cessful as a gay grouping of flowers in a 
quiet garden corner. If curtains and 
screen are of the same pattern, so much 
the better, and if rugs and walls are plain, 
better still. In a room with a compara- 



tively low ceiling a stripe cretonne carry- 
ing a flower motif makes an admirable 
screen cover. Such a pattern looks well 
in a country dining room, provided there 
is sufiicient space to give what architects 
call "circulation." And, circulation of air 
is not meant in this case, but comfortable 
"circulation of people." 

Quiet lattice patterns in lettuce green, 
blue, black and claret may be found with 
a little hunting; and it cannot be denied 
that the restful scheme has its place 
quite as well as the more decorative. 







'Versailles" 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



59 




Dining Room ivith Hollyhock Screen 



A blocked floor of large squares of deep 
gray and ivory white make an interestnig 
foundation in a dining room. 

There was a good deal of yellow and 
old blue in the room and, of course, much 
green foliage without. One expected the 
unexpected in this little house for it was 
called "Periwinkle." 



Chintz and cretonne are as fascinating 
as ever and a little lower in price. In a 
new pattern book I noticed a "Delia Rob- 
bia" chintz which is a variant of the 
stripe idea with the rich detail of glazed 
terra cotta. The colors were blue of the 
well known "Robbia" tone, ivory and a 
little soft orange and dull green. 



60 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




in its present loca- 
tion it is charming in 
every way. 

A color scheme 
for a dining room is 
often a vexing one. 
The day of the red. 
and then the Delft 
blue dining room, is 
over. Instead, the 
modern tendency is 
toward a rather 
quiet neutral or pas- 
tel effect, restful at 
all seasons — sum- 
mer or winter. For 
the small house 
tapestry papers in 
dull pinks, yellows, 
A Good Colonial Diniti'^ Room orpens and ])lues 

It is not so easy to blunder in a dining massed with delicate grays are per- 
room as in other portions of the home, for haps preferable to the scenic papers 
the requirements are clearly defined. A employed so strikingly with period fur- 
dining room should never be a curio place, niture in the large handsome dining 
for utility must come first, and out of room of a palatial mansion. It is just the 
utility will grow beauty, the only real same with furniture, the simpler designs 
beauty which is invariably founded on are apt to ])e more enjoyable. Furnitm^e 
actual needs. painted white when combined with a 

An inexpensive dining room in the white trim and walls of decorative pat- 
country is recalled where the woodwork tern will give good results, so does furni- 
is painted white and the walls are covered ture painted green, and one charming 
in gray paper carrying white stripes. In breakfast room is recalled where the fur- 
this room the furniture is light gray niture and the woodwork are painted pea- 
picked out with white. The floor is paint- cock blue. The paper has a white ground 
ed gray and the one big rug has a green with small. l)rilliantly colored peacocks 
ground with short-stemmed flowers in seen through branches of green leaves, 
pink and lavender forming a thick border. A rug of Scotch weave with a green cen- 
The rug is Walter Cranish in feeling, the ter and border in which peacock shades 
effect is flat and decorative. The curtains are blended with green, covers the floor 
are in leaf green bordered with lavender to within six inches of the wall. The floor 
and lined with pink. The china is peasant matches the trim and the furniture, 
ware painted in splashy nosegays, out- \\'hite ruffled curtains hang at the win- 
lined in green. The room contains no pic- dows. In the paper is a bttle dull orange 
tures. The only ornaments, if ornaments which is repeated in a runner on the long, 
they may be called are small bay-trees narrow table. This runner of coarse linen 
in green boxes and flowers arranged in a has for a border small bay trees in green 
rather formal manner in plain green jars, cross stitch. On a narrow mantel are 
The room would not suit a city house, but two dwarf trees in tubs painted blue. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



61 




Where Portieres of Heavy Materials Repeat the Coloring of the Curtains 



62 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Simplicity is the Keynote in these Furnishings 




The Window Ledge is Flanked by China Closets 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



63 



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27ie "Service" Door is Artistically Screened 




Dining Room ivith a High Paneled Wainscot, Simply Detailed 



64 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




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6<j 






INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



65 




Wainscot of Oak Paneling with Forestry Paper Above. Carved Oak Furniture. Electric Light 

Shotver Over Table. 




Pine Woodwork Stained Greenish Weathered, Plaster Panels a Golden Brown, Ceiling Pale Tan, 

Mahogany Furniture. 



66 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




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67 




Dining Room Showing Use of Colonial Biifjel 




Where a Fireplace and I- reach Doors Increase the Dignity and Charm of the Dining Room 



68 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 

r 




A Group of High Windoivs ivith Floiver Ledin' and a Large Built-in Sideboard 
are the Architectural Features of this W ell Appointed Dining Room 




French Windows Open on the Court in This California Home 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



69 




70 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




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INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



71 




^-Jss&Sa&s^- 




72 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 






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Colonial Dining Room tvith Valances 




A Good Dining Room ivith a Dainty Comer Cupboard for China 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



73 




White Enameled W oodivork. Mahogany Furniture, and Lighting Fixtures in Silver Finish Are in 

Splendid Taste 



74 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Simple but Artistic Furnishings 




Unusual Treatment where the Shades are of Chintz over ^el Curtains. Side Hangings in Plain 
Transparent Material Repeat the Main Tone of the Rug. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



75 




The High Paneling of (} press Has liern (jiicn n Ihirk Mahogany Stain Corresponding with 

the Mahogany Furniture 




A Charming Dining Room Which May Serve Many Uses 



76 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



77 




Tapestry Paper is Used Above the Wainscot of Open Panels 




A Wide Bay Floods the Dining Room with Sunshine 



78 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



79 



Breakfast Rooms 



THE "PULLMAN" 




.j!^^r% 



A Delightful Nook 



coming even as a feature of 
the small house, seems 
doubly merited. 

To prove thoroughly en- 
joyalile, in addition iv its 
serviceability, the room 
must be attractive in finish, 
decoration, furniture and so 
forth, and should not appear 
as if slighted simply because 
principally intended for the 
private use of the family. 
In fact, it should especi- 
ally eft'ect cheeriness — pos- 
sess an atmosphere of 
brig-htness and airiness, and 
yet of coziness. The wood- 
work, therefore, is quite 
commonly finished in white 
or old-ivory enamel, al- 
though occasionally in some 
very light-tinted stain, while 
the wall treatment will 
either he similarly light or 
consist of patterned paper 
or hand-decorating of flower- 
like colors. The furniture is 
frequently of wicker, which 
always appears particularly 
appropriate, as well as help- 
ful toward bringing out the 
desired efi^ect. 




HERE was a 
time when 
the break- 
fast room 
regarded as a 
of luxury, and 
recommended only 
for the costly home. 
It is now getting to 
be made a utility of 
very definite worth, 
and especially so in 
the home where the 
housework is done 
by the housewife 
herself. Made as 
attractive as it may 
be, it also Ijecomes 
a very enjoyable ad- 
dition. Hence, the 
p o p u 1 a r i t }' into 
which it is rapidly 




A Pullman Alcove or Breakfast Nook tvith Cushioned Seats 



80 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



As for the breakfast room 
furnishings, there is a wide 
variety to choose from. The 
most popular type of break- 
fast room furniture being at 
present, perhaps, the simple 
sets of white or light colored 
enamel. Most of these con- 
sist of a small round table and 
four chairs of almost severely 
plain design. These chairs, 
with backs just slightly 
slanted backward, and a few 
upright spindles, and legs 
with no rungs, are among the 
most inexpensive, and are 
really as attractive as some of 
the more elaborate designs. 
Many of the smaller break- 
fast rooms or nooks have 
built-in furniture consisting 
of two built-in seats on op- 
posite walls, a table, and 
sometimes a buft'et or china 
closet. 




The Simplest of Detail 




A Breakfast Room with W icker 



A Pullman Alcove which tvas Built onto the Kit- 
chen 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



81 



Wicker may be had 
in so many different 
styles and shades of 
finish, enabling one to 
exercise considerable 
individuality of choice. 
The painted or enam- 
eled kinds of furniture, 
however, are likewise 
suitable and very often 
used. 

Where there is suffi- 
cient space a breakfast 
room fills the require- W 
ments even better, and 
such a place offers 
scope for interesting 
treatment. This room 
may well be quite dif- 
ferent from the rest of 
the main floor, as it is usually placed where 
it does not become a part of the decora- 
tive scheme of the house. Therefore, 
quite a radical treatment is permissible. 
Painted furniture goes well here also 
papers of decorative patterns. It is a 
day room, consequently the question, 
"How will it look with artificial light?" 
does not have to be answered. 

Odd pieces on good lines, if given just 
the right color, will make the room as 
pleasing and harmonious as can be. In 
one modest breakfast room, an ordinary 
pine kitchen table with two drop leaves 
was enameled black, and with a few 
touches of bright colored flowers, was 
extremely eff'ective as well as up-to-date. 
A gate leg table, sometimes called an 
English breakfast table, many of which 
can be found in somewhat dingy oak 
finish in second hand shops, are very good 
looking freshly enameled for the modern 
breakfast room. If black enamel is chosen, 
it is best used in a sunny south room, 
where it will not seem in the least de- 
pressing. Other enamels very good in 
style are apple green, Dutch blue, dove 






irS-'^^^SS^^- 





W 
w 




W icker for the Breakfast Alcove 

gray, cream, yellow and even orange with 
some conventional motifs added in black. 

One thing to give special consideration 
in planning the furniture for this room is 
the size of the table. Many a housekeeper 
has one that is too small ! It thus makes 
a meal, perforce, a "course" affair with 
many trips for dishes that would other- 
wise overcrowd the table. As many 
families use this room, in which to eat all 
but company meals, a table large enough 
for practical everyday use is sensible, and 
a table capable of being expanded with 
boards is not to be scorned in the home 
where there is a large family and the 
homemaker must do all the work. To 
further save her, the decorated table mats 
of oilcloth, so much in vogue, are both 
pretty and practical for the breakfast 
room table. 

Wicker furniture is also much liked. 
Many of the tables in these sets have 
glass tops placed over cretonne, and while 
more costly than the plain wooden tables, 
do away altogether with the necessity of 
table linen and its laundering, not to men- 
tion worry over hot dishes spoiling- the 
fine polish of the table. 



82 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Glass Doors 





LASS doors 
unquestiona- 
bly add charm 
to the home ; 
and, for this and 
other more tangible 
reasons, are well de- 
serving of the pro- 
nounced popularity 
they have attained 
in modern home 
building. Also they 
offer a much broad- 
er subject for 
thoughtful study 
than is realized. 

Glass doors, first 
of all help very ma- 
terially toward mak- 
ing the interior of 
the home bright, 

light and cheery. This is true whether than by the draperies which doors of this 
they open to the outdoors or are used as kind, as well as full-length windows, es- 
inside connections. In the former posi- pecially invite. At the same time, by 



The Glass Doors, Two of Which are Stationary, Nearly Fill One End of this 

Breakfast Room 



tion, they supplement the windows in 
admitting natural light, and natural light 
always contributes cheerfulness ; and in- 
troduced in the latter way, they not only 
help, with admirable effect, in diffusing 
or distributing light through the rooms 
during the day, but at night permit the 
rays of artificial light to pass to various 
parts of the house with even more charm- 
ing results. Used inside, they also give 
delightful interior vistas. 

Then, too, glass doors, from the inter- 
ior point of view, afford interesting pos- 
sibilities in the decorative sense. In no 
better way can touches of color, which 
lend desirable contrast, or otherwise 
properly tone a room's color scheme, be 
achieved in a more effective manner 



means of such drapes, and by the further 
use of the curtains or blinds, or both, the 
admission of light can be charmingly 
regulated to meet the desire of the occa- 
sion or the time of day. 

In fact, possible locations for inside 
glass doors are practically unlimited, and 
by using them in pairs they help to dis- 
close beautiful views through the interior 
and enable, on desired occasions, the 
throwing of two or more rooms together 
with the very practical and spacious giv- 
ing results. 

In the accompanying illustrations are 
shown instances where glass doors are 
used with exceptionally charming effec- 
tiveness. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



83 




A Sun liooni Curtained in Gay Figured Material 



The charm-lending qualities of glass 
are not, however, confined to the interior 
of the house. Such doors, used with 
due discrimination, often materially en- 
hance the appearance of the exterior of 
the house also. Their use on the exter- 
ior tends to dominate that part of the 
house and for that reason should be used 
advisedly in order to be in the right re- 
lation to the rest of the house. If the 
house is of som^e architectural types it 
will not permit of large glazed openings, 
while other types will benefit largely by 
such treatment. 

A word of warning may be timely here. 
It should be remembered that the greater 
the glazed area of the walls, the more 
heat will be required to warm the interior 
in winter. Hence, in cold climates, this 



matter should be taken into consideration. 
Doors and windows should be closely 
fitted, and where there is a large expanse 
of glass, may be double glazed ; the air 
space between, giving insulation. 

Doubtless it would be advisable that 
such doors, used in latitudes of severe 
weather, be so located as to have a cer- 
tain amount of protection ; that they be 
placed, for instance, within the protection 
of porches, loggia recesses, or similar 
features. However, they invariably help 
to produce especially delightful efl^ects 
when used to give access to open paved 
terraces. Climate permitting ; or if they 
can be so introduced in conjunction with 
some room that is quite restricted to 
summer use, very charming effects may 
be obtained. 



84 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Beautiful I istd From the Cliurniiiig Sun Room I urnislied in Wicker and Curtained in Cretonne 




Three Sets of Glass Doors Allotv the Hall to be Throivn Open to the Porch 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



85 




Glass Doors Give Seclusion, and Yet the Effect of Space 





Sliding Glass Doors Betiveen Conservatory and Drawing Room 



86 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



The Up-to-Date Bedroom 



The modern bedroom is a thing of joy. 
\^'e are not here concerned with its con- 
structive or sanitary features, only with 
its decoration and furnishing. No place 
in the house admits of a wider range of 
indi\idual taste and fancy. 

The shops afiford almost a limitless 
range of material so that one is almost 
bewildered in choice. 



Equally desirable are the high posters 
of our great grandmothers, or the painted 
ivory with its distractingly charming rose 
and blue panel decorations. 

The old-fashioned chintzes and woven 
counterpanes, or the delicate flowered 
strip in mauve or rose, wisteria or laven- 
der, or rufifled rose colored organdy. 

Since concrete examples are better than 




Where a Beautiful Old Four-poster has Been Made the Chief Feature in a Guest Chamber 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



87 




My Lady's Bedroom in Wicker Furniture 



reams of talk it is gratifying to be able to 
illustrate some good examples. An old- 
fashioned lambrequin without fullness is 
used over full side hangings. The Chin- 
ese-Chippendale chintz is bordered with 
a plain fabric repeating a prominent color 



in the pattern. This combination works 
out well on the beds which are thus made 
a part of the color scheme. Doth rooms 
are very attractive in color and on this 
point a black and white reproduction 
does not do them justice. 




Guest Room ivith Paneled W alls and Decorative Printed Linen. Many Colors W ell Blended 



88 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



A sleeping room whether for visitors 
or members of the family should be rest- 
ful although more radical schemes can 
safely be carried out in rooms occupied 
for a brief period only. Plain walls with 
interesting chintz or cretonne at the win- 
dows are much favored at present, as 
are the attractive papers designed especi- 
ally for bedrooms. Chintz shades with 
plain walls deserve greater attention than 
they have received, particularly in small 
rooms. Recently a New York decorator 
has used black chintz at the four win- 
dows of a country guest-room and I am 
again reminded of my Irish visit. But 
these are black merely as a back-ground. 
The pattern is full of color including 
apple green, maize, lilac, soft blue and cor- 
al. The trim will be painted green, the 
floor black and the furniture green with 
blue mouldings. There are no curtains^ 
merely the gay shades. The' decorator 
won a point here for the mistress of the 
house first planned to use ruffled net and 
over-curtains of cretonne, but having 
seen a trial shade, promptly discarded 
the idea. 

Another guest-chamber planned by 
some decorator, a man by the way, is 
panelled in Japanese cedar with furniture 
made to order. Old temple brocades in 
gold and faded red 
are used extensively. 
and every conven- 
ience known to mod- 
ern plumbing and 
lighting is found in 
the dressing rooms 
and bath room. Old 
prints are sunk into 
the walls of the main 
room and the luxur- 
ious dressing room 
has wonderful toil- 
ette ar tides of 
carved Japanese 
ivory and jade. I 
should prefer a dif- 
ferent scheme which 
a friend has worked 
out in a small house 
in the suburbs. 




Guest Room Paper in Gray and Ivory with Furni- 
ture Gray Enameled Cane and French Cre- 
tonne in Pink and Ivory Stripe 




tiedntoni iiiili Paneled Furniture 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



89 



Walls. trim and 
floor are gray. At 
the windows hang 
transparent silk 
gauze in a shimmer- 
ing" tone between 
flame and gold. The 
furniture is of the 
plainest kind painted 
black and enameled. 
On the floor is a 
gray rug with a 
graduated border in 
deeper tones all the 
grays being warm 
in tinge. A lovely 
American cretonne 
showing gray, flame, 
green and mauve on 
a black back ground 
is generously used. 
Cornices of this kind 
stored in garrets will 
not come to light un- 
til it is better known 
that the fashion has 
returned to favor. 

These cornices 
are especially ef- 
fective in country 
houses when the 
curtains under them 
are of chintz or some 
fashion of the pe- 
riod in which these 
cornices were used. 
It is not necessary 
to draw back the 
curtains, although 
this was undoubted- 
ly the custom when 
these cornices were 
the fashion, as the 
use of the curtain- 
holders shows. 




Cornice of Cretonne to Match Curtains 




A Typically Modern Bedroom 



90 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



The two liedrooms 
illustrated have paint- 
ed walls, plain floor 
coverings, and win- 
dow hangings and 
bedspreads of chintz. 
In one room the twin 
beds are of cane with 
|)ainted frames, and in 
the other of dark 
wood with spiral up- 
rights. 

There is a good deal 
of white here. The 
fine mantel is white, 
so is the ceiling ; so 
are the columns which 
divide the room and 
so, also, the old-fash- 
ioned shades at the windows. 

A commodious desk holds every neces- occupant, a magazine holder built like a 
sarv requirement including time tables and church rack for hymn books, and several ac- 
mail schedules. Other articles which will cessories varied to meet the requirements — 
be a])])reciated in a guest room are, a book- as work baskets and smoker's outfits, elec- 
shelf containing a half dozen new volumes trie irons, etc. Flowers are always present 
changed frequentlv to suit the tastes of the and several well groomed plants. 




Plenty of ft indoivs Artistiatlty Curtained 




Everything Complete for Mi'Lady's Bedroom 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



91 




A Charming Room in Cretonne 




Bed Coverings and Draperies of the Same Material. The CIutise-Lounge Breathes Comfort 



92 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



93 




The White Woodwork and Gray Tinted Walls are a Background jor the Beautiful Antique 
Mahogany Relieved by Upholstery oj French Vert Tapestry 




Here Cretonne Strips Matching the Border on the Wall are Stitched on Plain, Unbleached 

Muslin of Good Quality for the Dressing of the Ttvin Beds and the Window 

Draperies. The Cretonne Band Borders the Valance Also. 



94 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Bedroom with Hangings of Old Blue Linen and Hand Carving on Old Renaissance Furniture 




Pretty Chintz Will Brighten Up a Very Plain Room 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



95 




Modest Furnishings in a Well Lighted Bedroom 




Four Posters in Twin Beds are Popular 



96 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Harmonious Furnishings for a Small Bed Room 




The Guest Room, Daintily Furnished in Ecru and Blue 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



97 




Inlaid Strips in Mantel and Furniture Match 




Madras Lace L nder curtains and Cretonne in Red Rose Pattern for Over Draperies 



98 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Dainty Wall Treatment in a Paneled Design 




Draivers are Built in one Side of the Dormer Vnder the Gambrel Roof 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



99 




Paneled Woodwork of White Cedar Stained a Slight Greenish Tinge, Draperies of Green 

Japanese Crepe; Bedspread White Pongee, Silk Embroidered in Water Lilies with 

Green Pails, Furniture Made to Order to Match W oodwork 




Chaste and Refined Treatment of Chamber. Free From All Crowding of Furniture 



100 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Showing a Charming Use of Cretonne Bands Bordering Plain Deep Pink Taffeta. The Bands 

Match the Paper Banding which is Used to Panel the W all Spaces. The Inner 

Curtains and the Bed Draperies are of Plain, Sheer, W^hite Muslin. 




Colonial and Antique Furniture Treasures Still Hold Their Place in the Modern Home 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



101 




Bedstead in Cane of Charles 11 Period 




An Unusually Large Bed Room Planned for Comfort 



102 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




The Child^s Room 




T is pleasure to find that the de- 
signers have not forgotten chil- 
dren. There are three charming 
patterns of well-known nursery 
songs, pictures and adapted to decora- 
tive purposes in block prints. The first 
print shows the Ride a Cock Horse to 
Banbury Cross lady. The second is of 
that delightful maid who hangs clothes 
in the yard and allows the blackbird to 
take off her nose, while the lazy Queen 
eats honey in her kitchen. The third is 
a little English Goose Girl, a pensive little 
maid with nice white pinafore. This tap- 
estry is similar to denim, but soft and 
far more pliable. It is fifty inches in 
width, and does not sell by the yard, but 
by the strip, crosswise of the goods. It 
is delightful as a bordering for a portiere 
of plain goods or a sofa cushion. If used 
in alternating squares of plain, the effect 
is interesting for a bedspread or table 
cover. It may also be used in a length- 
wise strip across a plain bedspread. 

The nursery of a certain city house 
is a jolly room. There are low chairs 



to draw up to their very own fireplace, 
a long window-seat where small bodies 
can rest without fear of disturbing 
things, and floors and walls that are so 
constructed that the word "hush" is sel- 
dom heard. There is nothing in the room 
that small hands and feet can harm, and 
there are so many things with which to 
have a good time. The walls of the room 
are a deep sky blue and the low cup- 
boards and chests are painted white like 
the woodwork. There are toys and pic- 
tures of the kind that are dear to a child's 
heart, and there are other things that the 
lads will grow to like later and which are 
now shaping their ideals — a Delia Robbia 
cast of the Madonna and child in lovely 
ivory tones, and a series of mother-and- 
child pictures, designed by those gifted 
women, Elizabeth Shippen Green and 
Jessie Wilcox Smith. Above the black- 
board, which is the favorite plaything, is 
a colored print illustrating one of the 
scenes in the Holy Grail. This picture is 
set in the woodwork and is so arranged 
that it may be frequently changed. 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



03 



M/jn 





""r^ ■ I «^' ^A ■ Soli' ^^ • - 




In This Nursery the Story is Told of the Three Bears Who Lived in the Woods 













34,; ;^,,. •'i:^#i%«!^;> Ha % ^M 




A Charming iSursery Decoration is this Frieze of Blue Birds Flying About Among Tall, Slender 

Grasses and Pink Blossoms 



104 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Could a Jollier Room be Found for the Children than this Attic Playroom 

Nursery furniture is coming' into its 
own when such pieces as we illustrate 
may be placed in the child's room. Of 
charming color, decoration and design is 
this Danersk furniture which will be more 
and more appreciated by the owners as 
time goes on. A pleasing feature is the 
rush seating of the chairs and settee. 

Of course the ideal nursery arrange- 
ment consists of two rooms, one a night 
nursery and the other a day nursery, but 
in these days of living in apartments and 
small houses where room space must be 



economized, a combi- 
nation sleeping and 
play room is all that 
can be managed. 

The old fashioned 
idea that any kind of 
a room filled with 
all the cast-off furni- 
ture of the house 
was good enough for 
the children to play 
in, does not fit in 
with our highly or- 
ganized modern life. 
The children are en- 
titled to a nursery 
just as c a r ef u 1 1 y 
planned and decor- 
ated as the rest of 
the rooms in the house, with furni- 
ture and decorations of a nature to suit 
the mind and years of a child. Screens 
are exceedingly useful in a nursery of this 
kind. For instance, one or two ordinary 
clothes horses covered with canvas or 
some heavy material can be painted with 
Mother Goose motifs, or will serve as a 
background for beautiful child pictures 
clipped from the magazines. These will 
serve to portion off a corner of the room 
or may be placed to make a delightful 
playhouse. This is an excellent scheme 




Danersk Painted Furniture jor tin- .\iirsvry 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



105 



The Children Love 



because it keeps the chil- 
dren happy in their own 
place, where they can 
play and keep their toys 
without disturbing or 
cluttering up the other 
rooms. An old triple 
fold screen would do for 
this purpose also. Paint- 
ed on one side to re- 
semble the outside of a 
house, bricks, windows, 
doors and all, it carries 
out the illusion and 
makes a play house that 
has all the charm of 
reality. These screens 
can easily be made at 
home and if one happens 
to have an old screen or 
two, the only expense 
would be for paint. A 
little thought and ingenuity in such mat- 
ters will go far toward making a charm- 
ing nursery without going to any undue 
expense. Whatever the arrangement 
adopted, the nursery should have fresh 
air, plenty of sunlight and simple furnish- 
ings which make it easy to keep clean as 
well as attractive to 
the eye. 

The woodwork and 
walls of a nursery 
should be painted 
white or a light color 
so that it can be 
easily washed. Put 
washable rag rugs 
on the floor, curtains 
and cushions covered 
with gingham i n 
large or small checks 
to harmonize with 
the walls and rugs, a 
table and chairs of a 
size suitable for little 
folks. 




The attic is a splen- 
did place for a day nur- 
sery if it can be ade- 
quately heated in winter 
time. Being at the top of 
the house the children 
may play and make all 
the noise they like with 
out disturbing the rest of 
the household. The attic 
is more adaptable to al- 
teration than any other 
part of the house be- 
cause it is frequently left 
unfinished with all the 
beams and rough boards 
showing. By nailing 
wall or compo board 
over the rough side walls 
the attic can be kept 
much warmer and free 
Stencilled Patterns ^^^^^^ draughts. The 

walls should be painted a light color and 
then they are ready for any form of deco- 
ration. The walls could be stenciled with 
animal designs, or Kate Greenaway fig- 
ures, cut from old picture books, pasted 
around the walls above five feet from the 
floor would make an attractive frieze. 




Furniture for the Little Folks 



106 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Concerning Curtains 



Elaborate curtain effects, except in 
period rooms, should be avoided, and no 
curtain scheme can be successfully 
planned without reference to the room in 
question. Like the wall paper and the 
rugs, it must be made a part of the gen- 
eral whole. An inexpensive curtain 
chosen to accord with walls and rugs is 
l)etter than the most costly fabric if out of 
harmonv. Taste goes farther than money 
in every department of house furnishing 
and especially so in window treatment. 
Not only must the walls and rugs be 
taken into consideration but the trim of 
the room also. Light curtains with dark 
walls and woodwork produce an un- 
pleasant contrast ; on the other hand dark 
draperies when the walls and trim are 
light are equally out of place. 



In many rooms a single curtain the 
colors of the walls produces the best 
effect ; again a net next the glass with an 
over-curtain gives a better result. With 
light woodwork, a dark paper and white 
curtains, an over-curtain matching the 
paper will bring trim and walls into 
harmon}', but we would emphasize the 
decorative error of very light woodwork 
and a very dark wall except under un- 
usual conditions. 

The choice of fabrics for the making 
of curtains is the early summer problem 
of the housewife. Confusing" terms to 
the average purchaser are chintz and cre- 
tonne ; damask and brocade ; velvet and 
\elour. Chintz is an English printed 
material, fine textured and closely woven, 
with small flowered pattern, in many deli- 




An Interesting It indow Trentment 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



107 







A Frequent Fault of Portieres is to Mar tlw Arcliih'vtitnil Beauty of a Door, Allhoiiiih an Interest- 

ing Color Note is Given in This Instance 



cate colors, on a light background ; a 
material appropriate for bed rooms, 

It is sometimes glazed — is then stiffly 
starched and shiny, more like paper in 
appearance than cloth. Cretonne is a 
French, English, or domestic printed cot- 
ton material of heavier texture and larger 
design and with stronger colors in back- 
ground and pattern than in chintz. 

Linens, though generally more expen- 
sive than cretonnes, are also more last- 
ing, are generally superior in design and 
color, and softer and richer in texture. 
They, however, need to be lined, as the 
light shining through shows up the 
coarseness of the design and the color. 

Imported nets, though relatively expen- 
sive in the beginning, are cheaper in the 
end in that they do not shrink and can be 
pinned back, after washing, to their orig- 
inal dimensions. 

Cream, ecru, or yellow curtains give 
sunshine effects and warmth to a room. 




American Print in Shades of Gray 
or White and Yellow 



108 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Cretonne and chintz repeating the color 
pattern of the walls or used in connec- 
tion with plain or striped wall paper, are 
very attractive for door hangings, espe- 
cially if the curtains are of the same 
material. 

Damask is a cotton, silk or satin mater- 
ial with large, flat, simple, continuous de- 
sign with light and shade effects, due to the 
fact that the lines of the background run 
one way and the lines of the pattern 
another, but are generally in the same 
color. Brocade is a damask or other 
weave, loom embroidered with small 
figures, in relief, detached, and generally 
in several colors. Velour and velvet are 
the same except that the former are gen- 
erally heavier and are thus used for up- 
holstery purposes while velvets are used 
for hangings. Velours and velvets may 
be silk or cotton. 





Valance and Side Hangings of Figured Material 
Over Transparent Net 



"The Golden Pheasant" 

The choice of fabrics for making cur- 
tains depends first, in these days, upon 
what one can buy in the market. For 
glass curtains, decorators are showing- 
imported nets, striped, crossbar, plain and 
dotted ; casement cloths of cotton, and 
silk and wool ; mohair silk, and silk sun- 
fast gauzes ; thin silks and light weight 
taft'etas, and shantung, and for shades, 
glazed, printed or plain chintz and Aus- 
trian shade cloth. For over-curtains, 
cotton Jaspe ; cotton sunfast poplins ; 
plain or printed linens ; cretonnes and 
chintzes are available ; and for richer 
materials for hangings ; silk poplin, taf- 
fetas, damasks and velvets. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



109 



A Little Talk on Mantels 



It is quite possible that the man- 
tel and even the overmantel is quite 
as important in the room as the fire 
opening, and we may frankly admit 
the fact. The possible use of the 
fireplace a few times in the year, and 
the much vaunted ventilation which 
it brings to a room (even when the 
damper is closed to prevent too 
much draft,) gives it full reason for 
being. The fireplace gives a focal 
point about which to center the in- 
terest in the decoration, and also to 
gather the family living, in the 
grouping the furniture. In the mat- 
ter of interior decoration the fire- 
place and the chimney breast usually 
becomes the dominating factor in 
the interior design of the room. The 
finish of the room in the matter of 
wood work finds its climax in the 
mantel, with a special feature in the 
treatment of the chimne\' breast, or 
else this bit of wall space above the 
mantel becomes the most important 
in the room, making the place for a val- 
ued picture or perhaps a bas-relief. 

With a paneled wainscot a continua- 
tion of the panel work across the chim- 
ney breast is a logical treatment, with 
perhaps a special emphasis, such as is 
obtained in the use of old the English 
form of "linen panels" giving almost the 
effect of a pilaster on the corner in the 
oak paneled mantelpiece shown. The 
contrast of the plain with the "linen 
panels" is effective, as is the flattened 
lines of the Tudor arch of the fire open- 
ing, with its light surface tone and nicely 
molded lines of the arch. 

So strong an appeal in the last few 
years has our own national type of archi- 




A Paneled Colonial Mantel-piece 

tecture, the Colonial, made upon the 
people that it has even effected our 
natural love for wood work, finished to 
give the beauty of the grain and line of 
the wood, and a painted or enameled 
finish has been used in some of our hand- 
somest homes. 

Two colonial mantels are shown both 
of which have excellent treatment. Both 
are paneled and enameled ; both have 
Colonial details in the mantel and in the 
cornice treatment. The first has rather 
an unusual feature in the center panel of 
the chimney breast, which carries well 
with the candelabra of the side lights. 
The treatment of the mantel shelf is well 
studied and restful. 



10 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



The other Colonial fireplace which is 
shown is a living- room fireplace, and is 
built for a real wood fire, with a fire open- 
ing' large enough for a log back of the 
fire. The whole chimney breast is one 
big panel in the Colonial way. The line 




Colonial Fireplace with Paneled Overmantel 

of the wainscot cap is indicated on the 
corners, though interrupted by the win- 
dow seats on either side of the fireplace. 
The objects chosen for mantel adorn- 
ment follow conventional lines with good 
effect. 

"The mantel sliclf is one of the chief 



sources of decorative peril," to quote from 
The Practical Book of Interior Decora- 
tion, lately out of press. 'Tt is almost as 
seductive a temptation to decorative in- 
discretions and o\erloading as the broad 
top of a sideboard. Only the firmest re- 
solve and devotion to the invaluable 
])rinciple of restraint will save it from a 
cluttering accumulation of things that 
would better be elsewhere. Sedulously 
shun a number of small, trifling gim- 
cracks and refrain from displaying photo- 
graphs thereon. 

"When there is no mantel shelf, the 
danger is entirely obviated. When there 
is a shelf, one must carefully study the 
nature of the overmantel treatment be- 
fore venturing" to place any moveable gar- 
niture on it. Some overmantel treat- 
ments demand that very little be placed 
in front of them, and the intrusion of con- 
spicuous garniture would be an unpardon- 
able impertinence ; others again admit of 
more latitude in the disposition of mov- 
able garniture. In any event six unalter- 
able principles must be faithfully ob- 
served : Restraint, Suitability, from which 
Dignity follows as a corollary ; Propriety 
of Scale, Symmetry, Concentration, and 
Contrast." 

This is perhaps as good a classification 
as has been made, and a careful study 
and application of these principles will 
assure good results, Avith a sense of rest- 
fulness and of dignity, yet with a variety 
of interest. 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



111 



Fireplaces 




An Effect of Great Dignity is Here Given by the Masterly Architectural Treatment 



112 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Fireplace and Furniture in Craftsman Style 




Fine Architectural Treatment of Engaged Columns and Entablature^ with Seats Each Side 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



113 




A Dainty Inglenook in White Wood and Green Velvet Seat Cushions 




Mantel of Gray Pressed Brick iiith Wr ought Iron Fixtures 



114 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Overmantel in Louis XV Style 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



115 




An Attractive Design in Roman Brick ivith an Added Touch of Inlaid English Lustre Tiles 




An Example of Ornate Brick Work is Given in this Mantel 



116 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




o 
o 

fee 

"a 



O 



ft! 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



17 




An Effective Design in Brick Especially Suitable for Rooms in Mission or Bungaloiv Style 




An Attractive Mantel for a Cottage Living Room 



118 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




In this Inglenook the Fireplace Facings are of Large Boulders and the Seats Have "Pew Ends^ 




Where the Space Under the Stairway is Utilized for the Inglenook 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



19 




Shotving Placement of the Davenport at Right Angles ivith the Fireplace 




The Brick Deeply Revealed by the Pointing 



120 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Interesting Architectural Design of Beams and Posts Used in Recessing this Inglenaok 




The Possibilities of Brick for Interior Work Have Hardly Been Touched 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



121 




Here the Chimney Breast is Broken Off to Form a Niche 




Den — Showing Broad, TiU: iutplace and Hearth ivith Opposite Wall Lined with 

Built-in Book-shelves 



122 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




The Charm of the Living Room 




Facings of Green Tile in Living Room Mantel 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



123 




The Inglenook Suggestion, the Square Cross-beam at Top, the Mass of 
Brick, Give it Undeniable Character and Churm 





Colonial Design in Cottage Fireplace of tied 
Brick with Wide Brick Hearth 



Subtle Suggestion of Old-Fashioned Comfort 



124 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




An Effective Combination of Brick and Tile in the Den 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



125 




A China Cupboard Beside the Fireplace 




A Lounging Corner 



126 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Paneled Chimney Breast with "Linen Fold" Panels 
Giving Plaster Effect on the Corners 




Book Cases Beside the fireplace 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



127 



Inscriptions 




HETHER the house be hut or 
palace, it can have no fitter decora- 
tion than a seemly hearth in each 
apartment, be they few or many ; 
and no hearth is the worse for an inscription 
suitable to the room and its purposes. As a 
matter of fact such inscriptions can hardly 
be called usual either in this country or in 
Europe. Fit inscriptions for the hearth, 
therefore, are not easily found, nor are they 
easily invented. It is easier to make a posy 
for a ring", or a suital)le rhyme to accompany 
a gift, than to put into apt words a proper 
sentiment to take its permanent place upon 

FOR THE LIVING-ROOM 

Let no one bear beyond this threshold hence, 
Words spoken here in friendly confidence. 

Home is where the hearth is. 

^ly fire is my friend. 

There is no place like a chimney corner for 
confidences. 

All care abandon 
Ye who gather here. 

Dissolve frirnis, ligtui super foco, large reponeus. 

— Horace, Ode 9, Book i. 

Drive awa}' the cold, heaping logs on the hearth. 

Bepred Dicjor. A Breton motto meaning. Al- 
ways open. 

Ell servant les a litres, jc me consume. 
I consume myself in serving others. 

Sibi ct aiiiicis. For myself and my friends. 

Amor Proximi. 
Motto of a Swedish order of chivalry, meaning 
Neighbor-love. 

Dum potcs ariduni coiiipouc lignum. 

— Horace, Ode 9. 
Lay up seasoned wood while you may. 

Warm ye in friendship. 

— From a private house in Boston. 



the chimney breast. The idea conveyed 
must be one that host and guest, parents and 
children, may see before them day after dav 
and not find trite, pretentious, malapropos, 
or priggish. Such a motto should express 
in well chosen words the finest sentiment of 
the hearth, and if the room be one of hos- 
pitable resort, the sentiment should be sufifi- 
ciently homely to connote that warmth of 
heart without which the logs blaze in vain, 
yet not so intimate as by implication to in- 
clude in the welcome only those of the 
family. 

Bene jaccre, et discere z'cra. 

A Swiss family motto meaning, To do right 
and speak truth. 

Come hither, come hither. 
Here shall ye see no enenw 
But winter and rough weather. 

^x\s You Like It. 

Dulce milii furere est, amico recepto. — Horace. 
I like to sport with my guest. 

He that hath a house to put his head in liath 
a good head-piece. — King Lear. 

A hundred thousand welcomes. — Coriolanus. 

Your presence makes us rich. — Richard H. 

Abide now at home. — The Bible. 

And when he cometh home, he calleth 
together his friends and neighbors. 

—The Bible. 

FOR THE DINING-ROOM 

A good digestion to you all. — Henry \'ni. 

Let good digestion wait on appetite 
And health on both. — Macbeth. 

Come thou home with me and eat bread. 

—The Bible. 



128 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 
INSCRIPTIONS, Continued 



Quis post vina graveni inilitiam 
Aut paiipericm? — Horace, Ode 2>7> Book i. 
^Vho can think of war or poverty after wine? 

Ne quid niniis. Never too much of anything. 

There is full hberty of feasting. — Othello. 

We have a trifling foolish banquet toward. 

■ — Romeo and Juliet. 

The guests are met, the feast is set ; 
May'st hear the merry din. — Coleridge. 

Feast with the best, and welcome to my house. 
• — Taming of the Shrew. 

Let them want nothing that mj' house affords. 

—Ibid. 

Prepare for mirth, for mirth becomes a feast. 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre. 

Some hae meat and canna eat 
And some wad eat that want it ; 

We hae meat and we can eat, 

And sae the Lord be thankit. — Burns. 

That is a pleasant motto which was found 
upon a baker's sign at Pompeii : Hie habitat 
f elicit as (Here lives happiness), and it 
might, with proper modesty, be inscribed 
over the family fireplace in a house given to 
simple hospitality. There is a delightful 
motto in a little hoase in Florence just within 
the shadow of Giotto's tower, and one well 
suited to a modest home anywhere. It is 
nearly equivalent in sentiment to the refrain 
of "Home, Sweet Home," and thus it runs : 

Casa mea, piccola die sia, 
Sei semper casa mea. 

Literally translated it means : "My house, 
however little you may be, may you always 
be mine." A briefer equivalent is, Pauca 
sed mea, which is very like Shakespeare's 

A poor thing, but mine own. 

Bon feu a inal hivcr 
A good fire for a hard winter. 

is a pleasing old French motto for a living 
room fireplace. 



Se taire ou bien dire. Be silent or speak well. 

is a sound old French motto, suitable to a 
room where the family and its guests gather 
for converse. Farnham Castle, at one time 
the seat of the bishop of Winchester, has a 
fine motto in Norman French, fit for almost 
an}/' fireside. It is : 

All Dicu joy, aux amis foyer. 
Faith toward God and a hearth for my friends. 

None come too early or return too late. 

is a hearty English sentiment proper to a 
hospitable hearth. Another such is : 

When friends meet, hearts warm. 

More distinctly domestic is the old Scotch 
sentiment : 

East, West, hame's best. 

The Maitland fainily motto is good for an 
impretentious hearth : 

Pai.x- et pen. Peace and little. 

Literature and folk tradition bristle with 
mottoes and sentiments suitable to the fire- 
side about which men gather to take a cup 
"of kindness," and the line of Burns from 
which these words are quoted is one of the 
best of stich mottoes. 

Alay nothing evil cross this door, 

And may ill-fortune never pry 
About these windows; may the roar 

And rains go by. 

Strengthened by faith, these rafters will 

Withstand the battering of the storm ; 
This hearth, though all the world grow chill, 

Will keep us warm. 
Peace shall walk softly through these rooms. 

Touching our lips with holy wine. 
Till every casual corner blooms 

Into a shrine. 

Laughter shall drown the raucous shout; 

And, though these sheltering walls are thin, 
May they be strong to keep hate out 

And hold love in. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



129 



Books and the Fireplace 



N the coming- 
of mid-win- 
ter, bringing 
with it the 




hoHday season, no 
feature of the house 
is more appreciated 
than the fireplace ; 
especially the big 
generous fire place 
with old fashioned 
andirons, where real 
logs are burned. 
Such a fireplace is 
quite a luxury in 
these days of the 
vanishing wood pile. 
With our thorough- 
ly heated houses it 
is not for the addi- 
tional warmth, so 
much as for the 
cheer of the blazing 
logs, or the glow of 
the coals, that we sit 
around the fireplace 
fire. It is the spirit 
of the fire with its 
tradition-Ion^ tale of " '''^ Recessed Book Shelves to the Height of the Overmantel 

hospitality, the symbol of good fellowship paneled walls, the decorations may take 

and of cheer, together with the gather- character from the old Eng"lish baronial 

ing round the fireside of family and halls, stately in type. In the home of a 

friends, that warms the heart with a "mighty hunter" the overmantel of a 

feeling deeper than the warmth which brick fireplace gives an excellent setting 

even the best built fireplace can throw for the deer head or other trophy of his 

out, and which does not fail with the prowess. The photograph shows tall, 

fading of the embers. seven branched floor candelabra of 

The big brick fireplace with its roomy wrought iron, very efifective against the 

hearth and possibly a seat placed on paneled wall placed on each side of the 

either side is very welcome as an acces- fireplace. 

sory in j^lanning the festivities for the At other times than those of festivities, 

hohdays. If the fireplace be set in oak however, the luxury of the fireplace comes 



!30 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



in its close connection with 
some favorite pastime or 
liobijy. Of course it has the 
really utilitarian use — often 
a bit of a luxury — of the lit- 
tle open fire on cool morn- 
ing's and evenings through- 
out the open air season of 
the colder climates, and a 
still wider usefulness in the 
milder latitudes, where a 
little fire is all that is needed 
for the greater part of the 
}ear. The easy chair, a good 
light, and a shelf of books 
are the accessories of the 
fireplace most generally de- 
sired. In addition to this, a 
well-filled smoking stand on 
one side and a sewing bas- 
ket, or better still, a dainty 
sewing table on the other, 
spells comfort and perhaps accomplish- 
ment for a winter evening or a rainy day. 




A Great 




Brick Fireplace tvith Seats on Either Side 

The fire irons are a great comfort to 
many people, who love to stir the fire 
and turn the glowing embers. 

It will be noted that provision for 
books beside the fireplace is a \ery 
usual arrangement in carefully 
planned houses. It may be only two 
or three shelves built in over a seat, 
or book cases reaching to the ceil- 
ing, though the more usual arrange- 
ment makes the cases the same 
height as the mantel shelf. 

Oftentimes book shelves may be 
built in beside the fireplace, finding 
a more fitting place than elsewhere 
in the room ; or seats and book- 
shelves may be built together in 
some of the many attractive designs. 
One very homey and practical ar- 
rangement where the seat is built 
under windows, places short book- 
shelves over the ends of the seat at 
either side of the windows, the seat 
end extendmg up and forming the 
end of the book shelves as well. 



A Very Homey and Practical Arrangement 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



131 



The Spotless Rooms of the House 





U I L D I X G 

mate r i- 
als, surfaces, 
finishes, and 
finishing materials 
are coming to be 
considered matters 
of first importance 
in kitchen-manage- 
ment, if one may 
adapt the term from 
business, — other bus- 
iness where it is not 
more needed than in 
the kitchen. First 
cost in building and 
equipment, high as 
it may be, is a com- 
paratively trivial 
matter when placed 
over against the 
drain of the vital en- 
ergy of the mistress 
of the house herself. A 

The matter of finishing materials and 
of surfaces is of prime importance in 
keeping the kitchen and bath rooms spot- 
less ; the surface and tint for the walls; 
material for the working tops of the cup- 
boards ; and perhaps most important of 
all — the kitchen floor. 

The perfect kitchen floor does not 
seem to have been invented as yet, — one 
that has resilience so that it is "easy un- 
der the feet"; without joints or cracks so 
that it is easy to keep clean ; and at the 
same time is moderate in cost. Linoleum 
is excellent over the floor but the trouble 
comes when it ends. It is hard to cover 
the edge without a crack, and it can not 
be turned in a cove at the wall. The pho- 
tograph shows a kitchen floor covered 






t^ 



Breakfast Alcove off the Kitchen 

with linoleum laid with a tile border, 
getting the advantage both of tile and 
linoleum with a minimum of the disad- 
vantages of each. The middle of the 
floor is soft under the foot and without 
joints, and the tile makes a perfect base 
at the wall. Notice that the tile extends 
several inches under the edge of the cup- 
boards, giving "toe-space" for one standing 
at the work tables. This is a simple mat- 
ter as all well constructed cupboards are 
built several inches above the floor, and 
toe-space can easily be arranged. 

A good enameled finish seems to be the 
favored solution for the table tops and 
cupboards, and for the built-breakfast al- 
cove. The varnish in the enamel gives 
a surface which can be washed, and 



132 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



which, if given proper care, will give sat- 
isfaction for a considerable time, and is 
easily renewed at any time. Vitrolite, a 
white glass composition, is often used for 
table tops and even for cupboards, as 
well as for wainscoting or dado around 
the wall. Metal cupboards with a baked 
enamel finish are also coming into favor ; 
but are used more especially in apart- 
ments and larger buildings. 

A tiled wall, either for the kitchen or 
for the bath rooms, is a luxury which can- 
not always be indulged, for the smaller 
type of homes ; but a three or four foot 
dado or even a five foot wainscot can 
often be carried around the walls. A da- 
do of this kind is very practical for the 
kitchen. When there are cupboards 
across one end of the room and several 
openings this does not require very many 
square feet of tile. The dado or the wall 
may be finished in Keene's cement and 
given a good enamel finish. The custom 
of marking- such a wall in dirt catching 
ridges, in a supposed imitation of tile is 
not only insanitary, but is also absurd, 
as the chief objection to a well laid tile 

wall is found in the 

jointing. 

With the painted 

or tinted wall any 

color scheme can be 

carried out; for a 

kitchen should have 

a color scheme no 

less than other 

rooms in the house. 

Bufif and white gives 

excellent color, with 

buff earthenware 

dishes for kitchen 

use. Blue and white 

or green and white 

make pleasing colors. 
In the bath rooms 

more latitude can be 

allowed and more 

color used. There 



seems to be a growing" tendency, where 
sufficient space can be allowed, to build 
cabinets into the bath rooms, with draw- 
ers for linens and cupboards for towels 
and for personal toilet articles. In larger 
houses, well equipped dressing rooms 
built in suite for each member of the 
family, are very convenient. 

In a most charming home in the South- 
west has been built-in the very conveni- 
ent dressing table under the windows in 
the dressing room which is shown in the 
photograph. With its shallow drawers 
under the dressing table and deeper 
drawers on one side and a cupboard on 
the other it quite takes the feminine 
fancy. A triple mirror is formed by the 
little cupboard doors, mirror covered, on 
either side of the broad central mirror 
panel. Flush doors are used throughout 
this house, and all surfaces in the dress- 
ing and bath rooms are enameled. The 
whole house has been planned with the 
same attention to details and great care 
has been taken to avoid dust catching 
surfaces or corners that are hard to clean. 
Notice that there are no pipes through 




A Beautiful and Sanitary Kitchen 



Irving J. Qill, Architect 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



133 




the floor. The radiators are 
hung- on the wall, high 
enough that a dust mop can 
easily be pushed under them. 
The basins are all on brack- 
ets and the floor space left 
free of pipes of every kind. 
Every bit of space has been 
utilized for cupboards, and 
everything is behind doors. 

This house was planned 
by Irving J. Gill, the archi- 
tect with whose work orig- 
ginated the term of "Dust- 
less Houses," owing to the 
care with which these 
houses were planned to 
avoid dust catching surfaces, 
ledges, or pockets of any 
kind. 

In the "Dustless Houses" 
there are no projecting 
ledges to catch and hold the 
dust. There is little or no 

wood work of any kind. In- ^" ''^^"^ Dressing Room 

stead of cased opening where doors are There are no panels anywhere, all wood 

not used, the jambs and soffit are simply work is flush, and all doors are flush 
plastered. There are no projecting cas- doors. Paneled woodwork gives a better 
ings around any openings, no ledge over gathering place for dust than almost 
the head casings, — so impossible to keep any other form of construction. Panels 
clean. are so common that we do not think 

The wall is plastered flush with the about the matter, simply taking them for 
frame, and these are nicely finished to- granted. Even housekeepers do not al- 
gether and painted, either in the same ways remember that every panel is a dust 
tone, — or a band of color to trim the pocket, or has a dust pocket at each low- 
opening. Excellent workmanship is nee- er corner. The modern housekeeper has 
essary with a flush finish. There is no all her woodwork built flush. This all 
woodwork to cover careless work. Neith- emphasizes the fact that if a house is to 
er is it necessary for the "scrub lady" to be kept clean it must be built for cleanli- 
mount a chair and wipe ofif a layer of ness 

dust which has gathered on the ledges all ^The up-to-date bath room is delight- 
around the room. fully dainty and convenient. AMiite sur- 

Nothing could be more beautiful than faced walls and woodwork make it easy 
the solid mahogany wainscot of the hall to keep the room immaculate ; and plumb- 
in this same house. It is built without ing fixtures become more sanitary and 
panels, like a flush door. convenient every year. 




In ing J. Qill, Architect 



134 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



^r 




A Tile Recessed Tub W ith Shower 

White tiles are used for a wainscoting 
or dado, if not for the entire wall, in many 
of the newer bath rooms, while the ceil- 
ing and upper walls are tinted in what- 
ever shade makes the room most pleasing. 
On a south exposure pale green is g'ood, 
while a north room seems warmer if a 
sun tint is used. Many bath rooms are 
kept all in white as to color. 

The tub set in a recess in the wall and 
entirely enclosed as shown in the illustra- 
tion, is the most sanitary type. A tub 
with side and end plates which enclose 
the outside of the tub completely is 
equally sanitary, and may be set in any 
bath room. A panel must l)e so placed as to 
make the plumbing pipes easily acces- 
sible. When the tub is recessed the open- 
ing to the plumbing may be made from a 
closet or hall at the end of the recess. The 
recessed tub has the advantage of also 
forming a shower when the fixtures are 



Over It 



set. This combina- 
tion of bath and 
shower is an econ- 
omy both of space 
and cost, and is gen- 
erally found quite 
satisfactory. The 
ordinary tub may 
enclosed in the same 
way l:)y plastering 
from the wall to the 
from the floor, and 
rim of the tub. 

A tile floor is good 
looking and sanitary 
and has the advan- 
tage that it can be 
laid in a cove at the 



juncture of the floor and wall so there is 
no crack or angle to catch dirt. The 
plastic compositit)n floor makes an ex- 
cellent floor for the bath room. There 
are several such composition floor mater- 
ials, which seem to be showing very satis- 
factory wearing qualities. All things 
considered, a good linoleum makes about 
as satisfactory a floor surface as any 
thing, as it is resilient under the feet and 
warm, and may be gotten in any desired 
color scheme, plain or in pattern. liattle- 
ship linoleum, laid in cement according 
to the manufacturers directions becomes 
practically a composition floor. It should 
be varnished and waxed like a hardwood 
floor and kept in good condition to pre- 
vent wearing in spots. Many people pre- 
fer a hardwood floor. Maple is light in 
color and has excellent wearing qualities ; 
it has been known to outwear marble and 
tile, justifying floors of wood. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



135 



Kitchens 




A Real Tile Floor Is a Luxury 




Showing Open Flour and Sugar Bins in the Baking Table 



136 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 





A W ell Lighted Sink in n White Kitchen 




The Modern Kitchen— ^White and Shining 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



137 




A Place for Everything and no Waste Space 




An Ideal Kitchen in Crrani diul Brown 



138 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Note the Electric Light, 

and Hood Built Over 

the Range 



A Modern Kitchen 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



139 



The Enclosed Porch 




INTER with its blanket of snow, 
its glitter of ice in the brilliant 
frosty sunshine, its crunching of 
snow under wheels, and its 
whistling' blast of wind that sends the 
blood tingling, — all this is a delight to 
the lover of winter sports and outdoor 
vigor. It gives a wonderful background 
to the cozy warm room with its shaded 
lamp and blazing lire, for an evening by 
the fireside after a day in the open. But 
to the "stay at home" people the winter 
season is a diiTerent matter, with onlv its 



few hours of sunshine each day, and it is 
to such people that the enclosed porch, 
made warm and comfortable, — except 
perhaps in the most severe weather, 
comes as an especial boon. 

The enclosed porch has, in the colder 
latitudes, developed into the sun room 
which is an integral part of the house and 
is as warmly built as is possible, but al- 
ways with the pleasing sense of bringing 
summer outdoors into the house, even in 
winter. 

A fireplace in the sun room is most 




A Fireplace in the Sun Room is Most Acceptable 



140 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Sun mom < unvertable at night into a sleeping:: pon n 

acceptable, and a brick fireplace with the In fact the sun room with its steam heat- 
chimney l)reast carried to the ceiling ing pipes and tile floor easily develops 
makes an attractive feature of the room, into a livable conservatory. The lattice, 
The tile or brick hearth is simply a con- so often a feature of the sun room figures 
tinuation of the floor. notably in all of the accompanying" photo- 

Flowers and vines and potted plants graphs, though with a very different 
usually make a real part of the treatment, treatment. In one case it is a trellis for 

the potted vines 

which are trained 
and growing over 
it. The cement or 
stone window ledge 
makes a place for 
potted plants and 
g r o Av i n g" things, 
while ferns and 
palms find their own 
place in the decora- 
tive scheme. Win- 
dows are made of 
any type, double 
hung sliding sash or 
types of swinging 
sash, which have the 
advantage of open- 
ing a larger part of 
the window space. 

Sun Room with a Trellis Treatment 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



141 



A Charming Sun Room 





HERE was a time 

when English ivy, 

wax plant, trailing 

fuchsias, or even 
wandering jew, were trained 
over and around bay window 
openings, and around the 
individual windows in the 
bay-window, when a flower 
stand filled the "bay," and 
the care of "Mother's plants" 
was one of the household 
tasks all through the winter. 
The "bay-window" was real- 
ly a home-made conserva- 
tory and the sight of grow- 
ing things in the house when 
winter was reigning outside 
was a joy to the children as 
well as to Mother. Carefully 
taking down the English ivy I ^^ 
and carrying it to the 
kitchen, or out of doors on 
the first spring day and 
washing every individual 
leaf, was a full day's job ; for 
the time of the bay-window 
filled with a flower-stand 
was before the day of a bathroom in every 
house. The armful of trailing vines could 
not then be laid into the bath tub and a 
spray turned on it and then left to dry. 
Each leaf had to be carefully wiped to be 
sure it was clean and dry so that the new- 
wall paper or the fresh curtains would not 
be spotted when the vines were again 
carefully pinned or tacked to the surface. 
When there came to be no time that 
could be taken to "wash the plants," — 
the plants themselves were not repotted 
for the winter indoors. Then too, in 

















Indoor Trellis for a Growing Vine 

those days, windows were not so reck- 
lessly opened at night, — could not be 
opened or "the plants" would freeze. 

Our modern sun rooms, however, may 
be accommodated to a decoration of liv- 
ing- greenery. Palms and ferns do not re- 
quire the care and thought which had to 
be given to flower shelves filled with ger- 
aniums and fuchsias, a scarlet or pink car- 
nation which could sometimes be coaxed 
into blossom, tea roses in pots, and even 
a pot of wood violets which could some- 
times be induced to bloom under a glass 



142 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



dish cover. Even the English ivy can 
now be trained over a white painted trel- 
Hs which has been utilized to make the 
very attractive wall covering of the sun 
room ; and the panel of trellis can be lifted 
off the wall and carried outside where the 
hose can be turned on the vines. 

For the sun room, where the outside 
walls are largely filled with windows and 
doors and the inside walls with openings, 
the lattice treatment on the small panels, 
which remain, seems exceedingly fitting, 
and is certainly very effective. This 
may be done in the simplest fashion, with 
the latticed panels carried to the ceiling 
and the frame work of the lattice itself 
forming the cornice member at the ceiling 
line. 

The room which is shown here has a 
very formal treatment in the interior 
woodwork. The space between the heads 
of the openings and the cornice is given 



rather an elaborate frieze treatment, with 
pilasters flanking the wide openings and 
the fireplace. The pilaster caps are in 
keeping with the style and echo the diago- 
nal lines of the lattice. The room is ex- 
ceedingly well handled, the variety of line 
in the lattice giving the effect of an all- 
over pattern, which is used as a back- 
ground, and gives a very restful effect to 
the room as a whole, and a charm which 
is distinctive. Palms and ferns give the 
life of growing things and the occasional 
panels of English ivy are peculiarly effec- 
tive. The wicker furnishings are cush- 
ioned with figured chintzes and with plain 
fabrics. The pieces of furniture have 
been selected with special reference to 
comfort. Wicker settees are drawn up 
on either side of the fireplace prepar- 
atory for the cool evenings, while many 
French windows usher in the spring sun- 
shine. 




The Trellis Motif is Carried Around the Room 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



143 



Porch Furniture 




HE chintz and cretonne subject is 
a vital one this season for both im- 
])orted and domestic stuffs are 
relatively his^h in price, yet 
nothing' contributes so successfully to the 
decorative quality of a room as an ap- 
propriate printed fal^ric. In this con- 
nection I was glad to learn that one ])ig 
shop had placed on its shelves more than 
two thousand yards of cretonne in dis- 
continued patterns at the pleasing price 
of forty-eight cents a yard. The patterns, 
on investigation, proved of wide variety 
and of remarka])ly good value. For 
porches, sun rooms, bedrooms, l^reakfast 
rooms, etc., these charming cretonnes 
would truly meet a definite need. 

The same shop carries "log cabin" rugs 
in old-fashioned "rag" weaving, the 
prices ranging from two dollars and up- 
ward for small sizes of the rugs to twen- 
ty-eight dollars for the nine by twelve 
sizes. 

Reed enameled black and upholstered 
in copper, jade, black and mauve was seen 
in the furniture section of this decorator. 

Returning tt) willow, the pieces de- 
signed for breakfast alco\es are new and 




Hand Printed Linen in Lily Pond Design 

very cozy — just the kind of furniture to 
inspire cheerful rising on an August 
morn. There is the long narrow table, 
firm and stable as though of oak, with 
two long settees with high backs, all 
carefully planned for the purpose of com- 
fortable eating. Consequently the seats 
are not too deep nor too high — " 




Settee of Reed Enameled in Two Colors tvith Cushions in Harmonious Shades 



144 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 





Arm Chair of Enameled Reed 

ing" of midsummer furniture. It needs a 
volume and a thick one. 

With the present high cost of furniture 
the old casual way of buying a few pieces 
for temporary usage is out of the ques- 
tion. The purchase of nearly every ar- 
ticle today, whether for household use or 
personal adornment, becomes a matter of 
importance, requiring thought and time. 
More than the present need must be taken 
into consideration with every table or 
chair, and this on the whole makes for 
good. 

Buy what you need to give your sum- 
mer room or rooms the desired quality, 
but buy for the future also. You will se- 
cure in that way the full value of your 
money giving to the transaction the time 
and consideration it has always merited. 
Haphazard dealings in regard to interior 
furnishings have resulted in many dull, 
unattractive homes. 

In so-called summer furniture there is 
more variety than ever. We may choose 
willow, reed, bamboo, raffia, rush, etc., in 



giiininii i> fmTT7Tirn n |TTminnTi?i «imnMmn»lHlUllliyBimi^^ 

painted, stained or natural surfaces. We 
may buy for a whole house or a room or 
a corner of the porch. 

In reed, the painted and enameled 
pieces are comparatively new and among 
the most attractive of the season's output. 
In willow there are many beautiful de- 
signs, both in the purely American prod- 
uct, and in the furniture made in this 
country from imported willow. Designs 
in all lines are excellent ; durable, com- 
fortable and of fine simple pattern. 

One firm making willow furniture ex- 
clusively shows a series of rooms with 
appropriate pieces placed as for actual 
use. The bedroom furniture interested 
me particularly. The Bellewood bed- 
stead and the Arlington dresser of plain 
lattice design seemed to me practical as 
well as attractive. How refreshing a city 
bedroom would be at the end of an im- 
perfect day with these cool, comfortable 
pieces. Another shop shows a printed 
linen in a lily pond pattern, which would 
fit admirablv into the scheme. 




Reed Desk and Chair 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



145 




A Glimpse of Our Dining Porch, Where We Can Eat "In the Open" and Be Entertained by the 
Rarest of Songsters Who Ask Only a Crumb For Their Pay 




The Omission of Curtains at W indows Makes This Truly a Sun-room 



146 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 







O 



K 



e> 



o 



'e 



o 

a. 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



141 




A Sun-room Which is Used as a Living Room, treated Vf ith Maple Wood. Natural Finish, Green 
Wicker Furniture, Green and Cream Rug, Curtains Very Sheer Scrim 



148 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Charming Sun Parlor W ith the View from Many Windows 




fhe Wood Lattice is Much Used 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



149 




A Cool and Comfortable Spot in Which to Spend an Afternoon. Furnished in Wicker and Rattan 



150 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




One of the Most Charming Sun Rooms in a Charming Land 




No Heavy Casements or Curtains to Obstruct This Fine View 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



151 



Outdoor Living Rooms 




Tile, Cement (ind 1/ ood Lattice Kjjerliiely Combined in the >//;i linoni 



152 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




A Window Enclosed i\ook ivilli a H riitiiii I ithli 




Pipes Run From Inside Radiator Warm This Porch 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



153 




Detract From the Porch Makes an Ideal Breakfast Room for Spring and Summer 



154 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



Porch Flowers 




QUAINT old 
custom has 
been revived 
and readapt- 
ed in the fl o w e r s 
grown for their dec- 
orative quality on 
the open porch and 
which are shown in 
the photograph. 

Ferns and vines 
are very commonly 
used on the enclosed 
or the open porch, 
and are charming in 
the wicker and other 
fern boxes designed 
especially for use 
under wide window 
openings. lUossom- 
ing plants used in 
the same way or 
when the plants are 
tall, set on the floor, 
so that the blossoms 




An Old Fashioned Floor for the Porch 



mass at the height of the opening, is an feet tall. The flowers, like those of the 

equally charming innovation, and one other bell-flowers, grow in spikes which 

which makes an especial appeal to the are covered with lovely bell shaped 

flower lover: — to those who have not felt flowers, blue in color, excellent for late 

(juite satisfied when the windows were l)looming. The blossoming time is August 

tilled with — just green things, and who and September. 

crave the color and life of the blossoming The seeds should be started indoors in 

plants. February, and be transplanted into the 

Chimney campanula is the name of opg^ garden in Mav, allowing from fif- 

the great stalk of bell shaped flowers,— so ^^^^ -^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^.^ j^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ between 

called from the old custom of growing ^i i . i- ^ i ^- j 

.^ ^ the i^lants, accordmg to location and re- 

the little plants in pots and keeping them . / ^_, . ", , n . 

^ r- o quirements. While these make excellent 

border plants. }'et the chimney campan- 
ula is not quite so hardy as some of the 
other perennial campanulas and is still 

"pyramidialis" as it is known specifically ^^sed largely as a greenhouse or potted 

is a perennial and is used as an out door plant, just as in the days when it was cus- 

plant. It grows al)OUt four, or even six tomary to pot the little plants. 



in fireplaces unused during the summer 
time. The campanula is the family to 
which the hair bells and Canterberry l^ells 
l^elons'. The chimney campanula or 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



155 



Outdoor Living Rooms 





Garden Seats i luler a Big Shade Tree 



I E N warm 

weather i s 

here one 

wants to g-et 
outdoors ; more, one 
wants to live out- 
doors, for it is so al- 
luring with sunshine, 
fresh air and mild 
breezes ladened with 
the thousand delicate 
perfumes of grass 
and flowers. And 
one can really live 
outdoors a good part 
of the time, if one 
plans the house or 
grounds so an out- 
door living room is 
part of it. 

There are countless ways of making an fort, ^\'ith a well laid wooden floor and 
outdoor living room and every one should railing made solid around the outside, it 
arrange some place where one can spend can be screened and glassed up to the 
some hours in the open air. A place, sim- sloping roof which may be either shingled 
pie or elaborate, will depend upon the or covered with a patent roofing. Here, 
money one can expend, but it is likely in this outdoor room, household duties 
that the less money one spends, the more l:)ecome a pleasure. 

fresh air and sunshine one will have while. Another attractive outdoor lixing room 

if one pays out for glass and screens and of this description was built by a woman, 
roofing, one will shut out more air and on her little bungalow overlooking a hill- 
sunshine, the things one is seeking. side. It was built across the back of the 
The busy housekeper can have out- house, the south end, and also had east 
door living quarters just to suit her taste and west exposures. It was directly off 
if she can spend a small sum for building. the kitchen and here in summer the break- 
See the two white wooden seats built fast was eaten ; then this housekeeper 
under the big trees out in the yard. AMiat came out and prepared her vegetables for 
could be more inviting, especially in the lunch and dinner. After the necessary 
early fall, when the summer heat is past, household tasks had been finished within 
If the house does not have a wide ve- the Ijungalow — bedmaking and dishwash- 
randa opening to a pleasant exposure it ing. she could live outdoors the rest of 
is really worth while building one. East the day in her charming south Acranda. 
or south is usuallv best for all dav com- Commanding a beautiful ^•iew of green 



156 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



hills and distant blue mountains, the win- 
dow openings were not marred with drap- 
eries but the clear glass gave an uninter- 
rupted view. From early morn till late 
at night in the summertime, these case- 
ment windows were swung open. Being 
well screened, flies and insects were kept 
out but plenty of fresh air and invigorat- 
ing breezes came in, making it delight- 
fully cool and attractive. 

At lunchtime, the meal was eaten here 
again, and at night the family ate supper 
here with the western view of a golden 
sun sinking into a sea of reds and purples. 
The meals were simply delightful for the 
surroundings were satisfying. After the 
"tea things" had been cleared away, the 
family enjoyed sitting out on this ve- 
randa, watching the dusk slowly set in 
until finally the deep bue sky dotted with 
twinkling stars still beckoned them to 
stav outside in this great outdoors. 



The furnishings of this outdoor living" 
room consisted of an inexpensive wool 
rug, about nine by twelve in size, a small 
dining table that had folding leaves, the 
necessary number of dining chairs, sev- 
eral comfortable wicker rockers, and a box 
couch covered with plenty of sofa pillows. 
Steps from the east end of the porch led 
down into the sloping garden but the 
porch was so comfortable, one was not 
easily tempted away from it. 

Another very attractive outdoor living 
room was made by a woman in her side 
yard. She had a small wooden platform 
built, a little less than a foot from the 
ground, and had posts set at intervals 
along the sides of the wooden floor. 
Beams were laid trellis fashion overhead, 
from post to post, and then this frame- 
work was entirely covered with the leaves 
from fan palms. They made a solid roof- 
ing, which was rain-proof. 




H icker Furniture is Satisfactory for the Outdoor Living Space 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



157 




Sun Parlor in a City House 




Fountain of Joy Which Has Been Placed in a Kentucky Garden 



158 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 



159 




A View in the Patio 




Interesting Arrangement of Flower Urns in a Southern Garden 



160 



INTERIORS BEAUTIFUL 




Looking Toward the Garage 




W hat Happier Place for the Sand Box Thmi on the Screened Porch 



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